The Nukak

Swept to the edge of extinction by warring outsiders

The Nukak’s remote rainforest has been overrun by colonists growing coca for the lucrative cocaine trade. Now many Nukak have fled their land after becoming caught up in the violence of Colombia’s civil war.

Since first regular contact in 1988, more than 50% of the entire tribe have died. The Nukak are one of at least 32 Colombian tribes ‘at imminent risk of extinction’.

The Nukak live between the Guaviare and Inírida rivers in south-east Colombia.

They are one of six groups known as the ‘Maku’ peoples, all nomadic hunter-gatherers living in the headwaters of the northwest Amazon basin.

Traditionally, the Nukak live in small groups, between nine and thirty people, in the very deep forest away from the rivers.

They are constantly on the move, spending just a few days in any one place.

Because they are so mobile, they have very few possessions, and what they have is easily portable.

Nukak houses tend to be very light structures made of wood and palm-leaves, just enough to provide a roof to sling a hammock under.

The HuntThe Nukak are expert hunters. In this extract from ‘Nukak-Maku: the last forest nomads’, filmed in 1993 by AVC Rainbow/ Audiovisuales, a group of men set off to hunt monkeys, using their 3m-long blowpipes and poisoned darts.

Each family has its own hearth, used to keep warm, cook, and to burn certain plants to keep mosquitoes away.

Although they were on what they considered to be their ancestral territory, their sudden arrival at Calamar created a sensation in the Colombian and international press.

But the consequences of regular contact were appalling. In the following years, partly as a result of loggers and coca growers encroaching on their land, more and more Nukak came into contact with outsiders and many were devastated by diseases such as malaria and flu.

In total, more than 50% of the entire tribe died.

It was only around this time that it was revealed that Christian missionaries from the controversial ‘New Tribes Mission’ had made contact with the Nukak in the 1970s.

Extinction point

The survival of the nomadic [Nukak] depends
on securing for them the use of as much land as is appropriate for their way of life.

ONIC, Colombia

In 1993, thanks to Survival, ONIC, and other organizations’ international campaign for the Nukak, the Colombian government finally recognized the tribe’s right to their ancestral land. The ‘Nukak Reserve’ was expanded in 1997 to encompass almost 1 million hectares of forest.

Cocaine

Today the Nukak’s land is occupied by coca growers and overrun by the bloody violence of Colombia’s civil war.

Act now to help the Nukak

Campaigning for the Nukak’s rights has already made a huge difference. After campaigns led by Survival and local indigenous organisations, the Colombian government created a Nukak reserve in 1993 and enlarged it in 1997.

What the Nukak want now is for the boundaries of their reserve to be respected and for them to be able to live there in peace.